Home is Where
by abcreedfan
Summary: Luka and Abby and a new life. Picks up after 14.19 The Chicago Way. I'm ignoring the ambulance because I just couldn't resist writing this. Please R
1. Please Note The Nearest Exit

"Home is Where…"

"Home is Where…"

Part I : Please Note the Nearest Exit

Author's note: I'm not sure where I'm going… "The Chicago Way" inspired me to pick up the Luby story, ignoring the ambulance (popular, unspoiled opinion, including my own, says Abby cleared it before it exploded) and move them on to a new life.

If Abby hated flying some 5,000 miles to Dubrovnik alone to tell Luka in person about her one night stand with Kevin Moretti, she hated trying to fly 800 miles with a cranky, air-wary two-year-old even more. You'd never know Joe had already flown twice across the Atlantic… he was crying for half of the trip through the airport to the flight gate… now he was quiet only because he was too tired to keep crying.

Checking everything except a large tote bag with diapers, a sippy cup, a couple of juice boxes, a package of animal crackers, and a couple of bottled waters for herself, she handed her bording pass to the woman at the counter. "I need to switch seats.." She explained to a no-nonsense middle-aged woman with a short mop of grey curls and glasses that made her look like an old British nanny. "See they gave my husband seat 10-F and me 28-B and…" "No openings." The woman interrupted. Abby raised a brow as she continued. "No openings. Once the seats are claimed if there's a spot or someone is willing to switch, you can move."

Abby sighed and scooped Joe into one arm and slipped the heavier-than-she-remembered tote over her other arm and moved to sit in the waiting area. Looking around for Luka… where was he? She was going to kill him if he was off in some airplane shop looking at Chicago souvenir trinkets… leaving her to deal with Joe and that mean flight check-in lady. "Where's daddy?" She asked Joe idly, but the boy was half-asleep already, fuzzy head against her shoulder and trying to tune out the hustle and bustle all around them.

There was Luka… looking oddly confused as he tried to shift his way through a growing crowd of impatient people.. Abby found herself wondering who was going away, who was going home, who was on business… vacations… "Over here…" She called to him, and reached up to wave some, until he turned and acknowledged her and started making his way toward them.

"They wouldn't move my seat…" Abby stated as Luka sat down next to her and Joe. "It's okay. I'm sure one of us will be able to move…" Luka turned his attention to Joe. "Look what I have…" He said to get the boy's attention, and handed him the toy airplane he loved so much. "Airplane. Avion. Remember this?" Joe took it and idly moved it around in his hands sleepily as Abby remembered the first time she watched this scene between her husband and son.. right before Luka left for Croatia with Joe… right before she told him of her drinking problem.

Glancing up at the gate display sign, Luka smiled. "Flight's on time… we should be able to board any minute now." Abby nodded as Luka lifted Joe from her… the boy was waking up again in the busily crowded environment. "Are you ready to fly? Hmm?" Luka tickled Joe and pointed out the window where the airplane was waiting. "Joe…" He stood and walked closer to a side window. Joe looked outside at the massive plane, and considered crying before he thought it over and decided it was wonderful. "Mama… Mama look!" Joe pointed out the window, and Abby looked up, nodding. "Yeah baby look at that plane… wow." Abby replied to acknowledge her son's fascination. The wonder a two-year-old held for absolutely everything… it still stunned her… she hoped it would continue to catch her off guard and fill her with wonder too all the time that Joe was at this amazing age.

The voice of the unpleasant older woman came over the speakers to announce that the back rows of the plane were boarding. Abby watched Luka take Joe and leave. She waited until the middle rows were called and boarded the plane…


	2. Against the Sky

"Home is Where…"

"Home is Where…"

Part 2 : Against the Sky

Author's note: I'm not sure where I'm going… "The Chicago Way" inspired me to pick up the Luby story, ignoring the ambulance (popular, unspoiled opinion, including my own, says Abby cleared it before it exploded) and move them on to a new life. Lyrics are "Alter Bridge: Brand New Start"

So the plane wasn't full after all, and Abby had been able to move near Joe and Luka after a fairly short time. The two-hour flight was uneventful, and Joe slept through most of it, besides a little fussing at take off and landing about the change in pressure. Abby gave him a sippy cup of juice and that seemed to work surprisingly well, and overall the flight was a smooth and pleasant one. Abby took it as some sort of omen that she was finally making a right decision in her life. Or at least tried to hope so… she wasn't good at right decisions. Then again… the two biggest right decisions in her life were sitting right next to her.

Joe. God how did she ever give up Joe? She watched him, his ongoing wonder with being right next to a cloud… finally all the excitement caught up with him and he'd fallen asleep in Luka's lap. She watched him… this bright, shining little star in her dark world of her own making. She remembered the day she'd gone to Janet Coburn… told her she wasn't sure if she wanted to have an abortion. Another abortion. Since having Joe, she'd began to feel a new sense of guilt over her earlier, terminated pregnancy. But … that wasn't the time. It just wasn't the time in her life. If she'd had that baby there would be a good chance she'd still be married to Richard. Married to Richard with a preteen child, probably still drinking, probably never gone to med school… No Joe, no Luka… and somehow that was how she lived with it. It was too late to undo it. No. What ripped her heart out was remembering almost losing Joe.. those days and weeks at the NICU… Treating Luka with rudeness and Maggie being completely shut out because she was too busy being afraid of losing this precious second— only— chance.

Sometimes she thought about the fact that she could never have any more children and it broke her heart. She had to face facts. She was 40 years old. Having Joe, having him be okay in the end… normal, healthy… had been a blessing and a gift. If it wasn't for the hysterectomy, she probably would have thought twice and again and again before considering trying to have another one. But now that the option was off the table, courtesy of fate, the idea of adoption had cropped up in her mind time and again over the past year. But the time had certainly never been right. And it still wasn't the right time to bring it up to Luka… they still had a lot to sort through, a lot to wait and see. But maybe after all of that… maybe someday. Someday, she'd talk about it with Luka.

Luka. She watched him and Joe sitting there next to the window… Joe sleeping… Luka looking out at the clouds and she smiled… she was filled with an overwhelming love for her son and her husband and she just couldn't put it to words… only a few weeks ago she'd told him… after he'd suggested they move… just pack up and start fresh somewhere else…. "Did I mention I love you more than I can even explain?" She'd meant it… She reached out and slipped her hand into his own that was closer to her, the one that wasn't fully wrapped around Joe.

He looked over at her and blinked, and smiled softly and she just leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. It was too loud from the engines to try to talk right now. But they were both thinking essentially the same thing. They'd start over… they'd make it work… and everything would be wonderful.

Against the sky… streams of light

_Call out to me and you_

_We leave as one… we've just begun_

_To find the solace we're due_

_This is the life we must choose…_

_We will make a brand new start_

_From the pieces torn apart_

_The break of day is before us_

_Cast your sorrows to the wind_

_Let the highway take us in_

_As we escape the disorder_

_This desert road that we call home_

_This is our destiny_

_We'll chase the setting sun_

_As we outrun a life of agony_

_God how we ache to be free_

_We will make a brand new start_

_From the pieces torn apart_

_The break of day is before us_

_Cast your sorrows to the wind_

_Let the highway take us in_

_As we escape the disorder_


End file.
